The Balaiada was a social revolt between 1838 and 1841 in the interior of the Province of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

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Background

During the imperial period, the Maranhão region, which exported

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, suffered a severe economic crisis because of competition with the increasingly-productive

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In addition, the

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

industry consumed a large part of the workforce in the region. Those factors explain the involvement of the

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and the poorly-paid free workers in the movement. A political power dispute arose in the heart of the elite class, which was reflected in Maranhão by the opposition of liberals (''bem-te-vis'') and conservatives (''cabanos''). When Pedro de Araújo Lima, Marquis of Olinda became prime minister, provoking the so-called ''regresso conservador'' ("conservative regression"), the Maranhão conservatives took advantage of the opportunity to remove the liberals in power and also to weaken them further by contracting the service of the cattle ranchers, traditionally supported by the liberals.

Revolt

The event that began the revolt was the detention of the brother of rancher Raimundo Gomes from the ranch of his father, Inácio Mendes, a contingent of the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

, invaded the municipal jail and freed him, in December 1838. Afterward, Gomes, with the support of Cosme Bento, an ex-slave with a force of 3,000 escaped Africans, and Manuel Francisco dos Anjos Ferreira, called the ''balaio'' ("basket") because he was a basketmaker, spread the revolt across the interior of Maranhão, conquering the province's second city in importance, Caxias, and going on to

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Repression

Despite liberals' attempts to control it, the movement acted on its own and got out of control. In the face of a growing mass of people, local elites sought ways to stop the revolt. The imperial government sent troops under the command of Colonel Luís Alves de Lima e Silva and made him the president of the province. By combining political pacification and a military offensive and by offering

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

to the rebels who aided in the repression, a series of victories led to the successful pacification of the province in 1841. The leaders of the movement were killed in battle or captured. Many of the captured like Cosme Bento were sentenced and executed by hanging.

Legacy

For his work in the Province of Maranhão, Lima e Silva received the title of Baron de Caxias.

References

* Claudete Maria Miranda Dias. ''Balaios e Bem-te-vis: a guerrilha sertaneja (2a. ed.)''. Teresina: Instituto Dom Barreto, 2002. * Maria de Lourdes Mônaco Janotti. ''A Balaiada''. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1987. * Rodrigo Otávio. ''A Balaiada''. Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1942. * Rodrigo Otávio. ''A Balaiada 1839: depoimento de um dos heróis do cerco de Caxias sobre a Revolução dos "Balaios"''. São Paulo: Siciliano, 2001. * Maria Januária Villela Santos. ''A Balaiada e a insurreição de escravos no Maranhão''. São Paulo: Ática, 1983. {{Authority control Rebellions in Brazil Maranhão